3. ožu 2014.

Killing Sarai by J.A. Redmerski

"Sarai was only fourteen
when her mother uprooted her to live in Mexico with a notorious drug
lord. Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but
she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been
held for the past nine years.

Victor is a cold-blooded assassin
who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young
boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment
for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things
don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson,
she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches
of another.

While on the run, Victor strays from his primal
nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As
they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep
her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison,
Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.

As Victor
and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to
lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal
skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the
power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her
killed."

Nikita meets Captive in the Dark. And I am not talking about new version of show about female assassin, it's all old school Peta Wilson and Roy Dupuis. I was obsessed with that show, so it is not hard to guess how much I enjoyed reading Killing Sarai. (Also, I owe big chocolate to my girl Azra who made me read it.)

There is still hope for J.A. Redmerski. One of the reasons why I avoided this novel for so long is my bad experience with The Edge of Never. I don't remember the last time that I was so annoyed with story and characters. I even tried to read sequel, but I gave up after ten pages. That is probably why I was so surprised with In the Company of Killers novels - I even had to check few times that it was really written by J.A. Redmerski. What a difference! Topic, writing, plot... I was completely blown away.

Dark, twisted and... a little bit like a fairy tale. About killers. I know weird, but it worked out perfectly. Sarai is a girl who had really hard teenage years, everything she does or says is not unexpected - her understanding of "normal" is not same like yours or mine. Victor had "special" upbringing - he was groomed for the job he's doing and in many ways he is similar to Sarai. My favorite thing about this novel is lack of pathetic romance story. There are a lot of epic scenes, but it's all so... Appropriate. You will understand what I mean if you decide to read it, I don't want to reveal too much. This is one of those books that are best to read without even reading blurb.
My initial fangirling doesn't mean that I haven't noticed few cracks - there are things that could have been better. Second half of the book had several lose ends, some aspects of the fictional world could have been explained better - especially whole thing with The Order. That was the most confusing part of the story.

Should you read it? If you want to read something different, you have to. Be aware that Killing Sarai is a book intended for older readers, over eighteen years old, there might be few things that you can find uncomfortable to read about, but compared with much darker reads like Captive in the Dark, this book could be more appealing to larger number of readers.

I'm glad to see you enjoyed this, despite not liking this author's previous work. I'd avoided this novel because of the mixed responses to her debut, but maybe I'll add it back to my TBR now. Wonderful review, Glass! :)

Dude! DUDEEE!!!! I LOVE NIKITA. Why hasn't anyone told me this before? I miss Nikita so much and now I'm extremely pumped to get to this book. Ha. I loved The Edge of Never, but I loathed The Song of Fireflies so perhaps there's hope indeed? Cannot wait to get to this, altough I have heard that the second book isn't that exceptional. Wait so there's like.. no romance at all? O.o Great review, Glass!

Hold your horses, honey. I didn't say there was no romance, but read it and you'll see. :) I haven't read The Song of Fireflies yet, one of my friends liked it a lot so I've been even thinking to pick it up. But I read your review and now I'm not sure again. This book is completely different from any of those. Thanks, Siiri.

I'm Glad you liked Killing Sarai. I really enjoy dark and twisted novel and seems like it's the perfect book for me. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I haven't read any book by J.A. Redmerski. Definitely I'm going to read it. Wonderful review, Glass. (:

Wow, great review, Glass. I totally get a feel for the book when you describe it as NIkita meets Captive in the Dark, as well as the fairy tale thing. Also, I rarely write off authors on the basis of one or two books I didn't enjoy, either, because of situations just like this one! I'm glad this one ended up being a positive experience for you--the book sounds terrific.

This sounds like an interesting story, and you have me so curious now to know what epic scenes you're talking about! :-) I've never read Redmerski, but I'm glad you had better luck with this one than with The Edge of Never. It sounds like I should start with this one too. Lovely review!

I believe that everything comes down to what you expect form your current read and that that was one of the reasons why I didn't like her debut novel. I'll wait for your review if you decide to read it.

This book was such a surprise for me too!!! Unlike you I loved The Edge of Never, but Killing Sarai sounded too violent for me. After I won the ebook from a fellow blogger, I gave it a try and OH MY GOD!!! What a thrilling and addictive ride! I like that it wasn't too focused on the romance and was more centered around Sarai's life. I can't believe I haven't read the sequel yet. Need to do that soon. So glad you enjoyed this one, Glass! Amazing review :)

I know that you liked it, but I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised. As far as I could notice, you weren't the biggest fan of stories like that. Killing Sarai, well, that looks like something you would like. :) Thank you, Aman.

Oh this book does look really different and I have only read one book from J.A.Redmerski yet which was her YA one. Killing Sarai looks super interesting and maybe I'll try it when I feel like reading something different. Great review Glass!

I heard this was different. Sorry The Edge of Never did not work for you, I heard it was disappointment for a lot. Glad you enjoyed this one thought. It does sound darker, but I heard it was well done as well!

LinkWithin

Hello!

Behind this blog are two enthusiastic readers from Bosnia - Glass and Tanja. More info about us you can find at About Us tab. If you're an author or publisher and would want us to read and review your books please check out our Review Policy.